Legal Adviser to the Chancellor of the High Court (Ref: 16274)

Job summary

Please refer to Job Description

Job description

Legal adviser to the Chancellor of the High Court

Salary: £63,343 - £70,725

Number of jobs available: 1

Detail of reserve list: 12 months

Region: London

City/ town: London

Building/ site: London CTS Royal Courts of Justice, WC2A 2LL

Grade: Grade 7

Organisation Grade for MoJ: Grade 7

Post type: Fixed-term (24 months)

Working pattern: Full time

Role type: Legal services, Policy

Job description - overview

This is an exciting opportunity for a lawyer to work directly with the Chancellor of the High Court and other members of the senior judiciary.

The Chancellor, the fifth most senior judge in England and Wales, presides over the Chancery Division of the High Court. He also holds day-to-day responsibility for the operation of the specialist Business and Property Courts, in consultation with the President of the King’s Bench Division. The Business and Property Courts underpin the UK’s position as a global leader in legal, financial, and insurance services. The Chancellor presides in the Court of Appeal (Civil Division) and sits at first instance in the Business and Property Courts.

As the Chancellor’s lawyer, you will advise him on the exercise of his statutory powers and those delegated by the Lady Chief Justice. You will advise on the development of policy, rules and procedure; identify and advise on legal risks that may emerge from the development of civil justice policy and court reform; and assist with the preparation of lectures, speeches and articles on both legal and policy matters.

This is a high-profile role for a lawyer and offers the opportunity to become a recognised and respected voice at the heart of the justice system. You will need to be confident in advising all of the senior judges with responsibility for civil justice, including the Master of the Rolls, the Deputy Head of Civil Justice and the Vice-President of the Court of Appeal (Civil Division).

You will have a large degree of autonomy in undertaking your work and will need to be able to work independently to provide high quality legal, strategic and policy advice.

You will also need to be able to form strong working relationships with members of the judiciary (at all levels), with the lawyers in other senior judges’ private offices, and with a wide range of key officials across the civil justice system.

There may be opportunities for travel, both within the UK and internationally, supporting and participating in judicial engagements such as conferences and court visits.

You will be an essential member of the Chancellor’s busy private office team. You will work closely with his Private Secretary to support the Chancellor in fulfilling his varied responsibilities. Part of the enjoyment and challenge of working within a private office is that work can be fast paced and unpredictable, particularly during the judicial termtime. The Chancellor’s private office is a small and friendly team, with a sociable outlook, that enjoys supporting each other.

Qualifications and experience

The successful applicant must be qualified to practice as a solicitor or barrister in England and Wales and hold a valid practising certificate (if required) or be able to obtain one.

Selection criteria

Technical legal skills

The successful candidate will be required to provide evidence of:

• A strong understanding of public law principles and constitutional law;
• Sound understanding of civil procedure;
• Analytical skills, using legal research to produce timely and fit for purpose advice;
• Ability to communicate advice effectively both in writing and orally, with little formal legal supervision;
• Reliable legal judgment and appreciation of legal risk, being able to identify and explain legal options, giving a steer as appropriate, and extracting key legal issues;
• Understanding of the role of an advisory lawyer.

Knowledge or experience of areas of Chancery work is desirable but not essential.

Behaviours

During the application process you will also be asked to provide examples of how you have met the following behaviours:

• Communicating and influencing;
• Making effective decisions;
• Delivering at pace.

Should we receive a large number of applications we will sift primarily on the lead behaviour of communicating and influencing. Successful applicants will then be invited to an interview. The above technical skills and behaviours will be tested at the interview.

Candidates invited to interview will also be required to do a short presentation or scenario test.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Person specification

Please refer to Job Description

Qualifications

The successful applicant must be qualified to practice as a solicitor or barrister in England and Wales and hold a valid practising certificate (if required) or be able to obtain one.

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Making Effective Decisions
• Communicating and Influencing
• Delivering at Pace

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £63,343, Ministry of Justice contributes £18,350 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

• Access to learning and development
• A working environment that supports a range of flexible working options to enhance your work life balance
• A working culture which encourages inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%
• Annual Leave
• Public Holidays
• Season Ticket Advance

For more information about the recruitment process, benefits and allowances and answers to general queries, please click the below link which will direct you to our Candidate Information Page.

Link: https://justicejobs.tal.net/vx/candidate/cms/About%20the%20MOJ

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours and Experience.https://justicejobs.tal.net/vx/candidate/cms/About%20the%20MOJ

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is counter-terrorist check (opens in a new window).

See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see theCivil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

Apply and further information

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

• Name : SSCL Recruitment Enquiries Team
• Email : moj-recruitment-vetting-enquiries@resourcing.soprasteria.co.uk
• Telephone : 0345 241 5359

Recruitment team

• Email : moj-recruitment-vetting-enquiries@resourcing.soprasteria.co.uk

Further information

Appointment to the Civil Service is governed by the Civil Service Commission’s Recruitment Principles. If you feel a department has breached the requirement of the Recruitment Principles and would like to raise this, please contact SSCL (Moj-recruitment-vetting-enquiries@gov.sscl.com) in the first instance. If the role has been advertised externally (outside of the Civil Service) and you are not satisfied with the response, you may bring your complaint to the Commission. For further information on bringing a complaint to the Civil Service Commission please visit their web pages: http://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/civil-service-recruitm…

https://jobs.justice.gov.uk/careers/JobDetail/16274?entityId=16274